CMS is releasing its 2021 Final Rule late this year, but CodingIntel will bring you the news of updated policies, the conversion factor, and RVUs for E/M services. CMS is under conflicting pressure from specialty societies, because the conversion factor and RVUs determine revenue.
The Final Rule will also bring welcome and unwelcome news about telehealth after the end of the public health emergency. CMS proposed new HCPCS codes for virtual communications by clinicians who cannot bill an E/M services. And, we’ll find if they have finalized their long proposed add-on HCPCS code for complexity in an E/M service or tabled it. Finally, CMS is clarifying its interpretation of some of the rules for remote monitoring.
One CMS/CPT disagreement is the use of prolonged care 99417. This 15 minute prolonged care code can only be used with codes 99205 and 99215 after a full 15 minutes are spent. But, do we start the clock at the minimum time range or the maximum time range for the based code? CMS and CPT disagree. Let’s see what the Final Rule has to say.
After the presentation, participants will be able to:
- Identify current telehealth services that will not be used after the public health emergency ends
- State CMS’s policy on prolonged services code 99417
- Describe the new add-on code, if CMS implements it